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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28514991">crystalline</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bene_elim/pseuds/bene_elim'>bene_elim</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>you hold my touch in you [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Developing Relationship, Fluff, Hebra, ISH!, M/M, Rito Village, Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), Snow Storms, Softness, Tenderness, developing feelings, everytime i get to tagging a fic i suddenly forget everything that happens in that fic, link being scared to face his feelings, link's struggle with talking, molli is a sweetheart</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:41:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,574</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28514991</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bene_elim/pseuds/bene_elim</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Link collapses in the Hebra mountains. Harth nurses him back to health. It starts... something. </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>  <i>"And the hand that had settled on his shoulder eased him back down, and Link found himself unable to resist, and down he sunk, easy as a stone. Sweet surface seemed so far, but he was content to go down. His eyes felt heavy, but he fought closing them in favour of savouring the touch on his shoulder, and he shivered, glad for his efforts, when that touch trailed down his back. Eventually he was back to being cradled by the pillows and he let himself sleep once more."</i></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Harth/Link (Legend of Zelda)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>you hold my touch in you [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2090508</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>LoZ: Botw/AoC Rareship Bingo</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>crystalline</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hi all!!!!! i got dragged into this by some unknown entity and i had to write SOMETHING for them because its criminal that there's so little. the timeline is fucked, by the way, i realise that ganon is defeated but tarrey town has just been finished, idk what's with that. it is 1am my dudes and im a little hyped! this is the longest thing ive written in a WHILE so im insanely pleased, though im not happy with the ending, but WOO GO ME! </p><p>okay, hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hebra was an aching heart of a place. Flung to the far reaches of the Hyrulean map, it sat quiet and still in every way. Link didn’t want to admit it, but he was lost. The Sheikah Slate which had so often guided him in the past was useless now: whatever power source powered the map, it clearly didn’t work in the ice storms of the Hebra mountains. He’d tried again and again to get it to reorient itself to no avail. Giving it a good thumping over a rock didn’t seem to help, either. He’d given up on that hours ago and resigned himself to attempting to walk back in the direction he’d come, though he wasn’t sure how successful he was being with that, given that he was sure he’d passed the same outcropping of rocks thrice now; surely he was walking in circles?</p><p>Link’s only hope was that he didn’t encounter a lynel.</p><p>How he wished that he could camp somewhere! But alas, he’d just given his last bundle of wood to Hudson in the pursuit of Tarrey Town’s completion, and he was completely out now. His flameblade lay along his back. He’d commissioned some custom ruby jewellery to adorn his wrists and neck and he felt the heat from them radiate through his bones, trapped snug and warm by his snowquill armour. He could simply find a small cave or a carved-out mountain or a small alcove somewhere and rest there, but the thought of sitting in the dark, alone, while a harsh blizzard raged, snagged at his heart and made him press on. Better to find Selmie’s cabin again, or at the very least somewhere he recognised.</p><p>But hours dragged on, and Link’s feet dragged in the snow, and he felt he was no closer to any landmark he might recognise than before. His bones ached from pulling himself through the cold; his nose was red and raw, eyelashes frosted, lips chapped. The snow was falling thicker and faster, if that was possible, than before, and it felt like if he stood still for even a moment, he’d be buried under. It was all he could do to keep moving, but, oh, how he felt like giving up!</p><p>He looked up. The sky was one blanket of grey. He thought back to the aurora he had seen what felt like weeks ago now.</p><p>Willing himself to keep walking, he continued. He didn’t even know which direction he was walking in; the sky was too overcast to see the moon or the sun. Hylia, he didn’t even know what time of day it was. The wind stung his eyes, harsh and unforgiving. Tears leaked out and froze almost immediately on his cheeks. <em>Why </em>had he come to Hebra in the first place? So many other places to explore – he couldn’t have chosen somewhere warmer, like the Gerudo desert, maybe?</p><p>Just when he decided he’d give up and let the snow claim him - become a frozen monument, an ice sculpture hidden for future explorers in the way that the Gerudo’s eighth goddess statue was, because hero or not he was <em>lost - </em>he saw a dark shape in the sky. Delirious with exhaustion, he barely registered when the mass landed in front of him – he just saw dark plumage and green gemstones which were so out of place here in this barren, white landscape. He stumbled towards the unknown figure and, when it shouted,</p><p>“Link!”</p><p>Collapsed, straight onto his face – or, would have, if he hadn’t been caught in arms softer than anything had a right to be. He was out cold.</p><p>-</p><p>Waking up was an aching experience. Link felt like he’d been battered, stripped of his skin, taken apart and put back together again. It was a feeling he was, unfortunately, used to.</p><p>He opened his eyes.</p><p>All he saw was the ceiling of… Well, he wasn’t entirely sure. It wasn’t until he turned his head and looked around himself that he realised he was in one of the huts in Rito Village. He wondered how he had got there.</p><p>“You’re up,” a voice said, and Link snapped his head back towards the source of it. Harth. He was sat on his cushion on the floor, as he normally was, looking over yet another bow.</p><p>Link pushed himself upright. It took a lot of effort, every inch of his body shouting in protest, but eventually he was sitting. Harth had laid him opposite Molli’s hammock, on the other side of the hut. There was an extraordinary amount of pillows and blankets surrounding him, and he wanted nothing but to sink back into their softness and warmth, but he couldn’t, he couldn’t.</p><p><em>What happened? </em>He signed, instead. He couldn’t remember anything beyond whiteness and howling that he thinks might have been the wind but also might have been desperate souls, and his mind wanders to whether Hebra has legends of ghosts roaming its mountains, because there certainly felt like it.</p><p>“You passed out. Probably from exhaustion.” Harth said.</p><p>And Link now understood <em>why </em>he couldn’t lean back into those pillows and let their warmth overtake him: what kind of hero would he be if he did?</p><p>So instead, he stood on shaky legs, and grabbed hold of the railing of the hut to steady himself. Immediately, Harth was on his feet, reaching towards Link.</p><p>“Whoa, there! Stop that. Lie back down.”<br/>
<br/>
And the hand that had settled on his shoulder eased him back down, and Link found himself unable to resist, and down he sunk, easy as a stone. Sweet surface seemed so far, but he was content to go down. His eyes felt heavy, but he fought closing them in favour of savouring the touch on his shoulder, and he shivered, glad for his efforts, when that touch trailed down his back. Eventually he was back to being cradled by the pillows and he let himself sleep once more.</p><p>-</p><p>The next time Link awoke, it was to Molli playing with his hair. It was night, which told him little, for he couldn’t remember what time of day it had been when he had last awoken.</p><p>“You’re awake! Dad!” Molli called. Yet she didn’t move, continuing to play with his hair. Link couldn’t – wouldn’t – move while she was doing so and, if he was being honest, he didn’t want to, either: it was soothing, warming, healing. He sighed silently, closing his eyes, and when he opened them again, startled slightly to see Harth. He seemed to smile, though it was difficult to tell in the low light.</p><p>“I’m glad to see you awake,” He said, one hand resting on Molli’s head. His voice was as low as the light.</p><p><em>How long have I slept?</em> Link asked, slightly afraid of the answer. He was losing time to sleep, something that he swore to never do again, and though he wanted to, he found that he couldn’t curse Harth for keeping him so comfortable that all he wanted to do <em>was </em>sleep.</p><p>“Just a few hours. You needed it.” Harth said, and Link breathed a noisy sigh of relief.</p><p>“The hero needed rest after his latest adventure!” Molli said cheerily. Harth smiled down at her.</p><p>“Yes. And now, you need to sleep, too. Off to bed with you!” He said. Like the obedient daughter she was, she stood from her perch next to Link’s head, patting him clumsily, softly, sweetly, and walking to her hammock. Harth helped her up into it, and then she was out like a light.</p><p>When he turned back around, he saw Link watching their interaction.</p><p>“She wanted to stay up with you. I could barely tear her from your side, especially after how scared she was when Teba and I brought you back to the village. You gave everyone a fright, actually,” He said, voice quieter now, sensitive to his daughter behind him. He came to sit where Molli had sat mere moments ago.</p><p>And, oh, isn’t that the problem? Link thought. He shouldn’t have been bested by a mere blizzard; he had surely endured far worse, seen and fought and survived far worse. He was this land’s hero.</p><p>“Don’t.” Harth said. Link looked at him. “Whatever you’re thinking, don’t think it.”</p><p>And Link looked, and looked, and looked – and found himself unable to look away. His eyes were magnets drawn only to the image of Harth, illuminated by the moon’s light streaming in through the open rafters of his hut. And, oh, Link realised: those green gemstones he had seen in that wintry wasteland before he had collapsed had been Harth’s eyes. The only spec of colour he had seen.</p><p>“Go back to sleep,” Harth whispered, voice even lower now. Link closed his eyes, obedient, and as he drifted off, swore he felt the phantom of a hand ghosting over his hair.</p><p>-</p><p>The third time Link awoke, he felt much better. He sat up with no weakness, yawned and stretched with no aches, stood without needing to balance himself on something. The only thing he felt like he needed now was a wash.</p><p>“Good morning,” Harth said, and once again Link startled. He wasn’t used to sharing spaces with others.</p><p><em>Good morning</em>, Link signed.</p><p>“Here, I went down to the inn outside of the Village and found a trader from whom I bought some apples. Teba told me you’re partial to them,” Harth said, and he produced from a shelf a bowl of three apples. Link signed a thanks and took them, devouring them within minutes. He wasn’t self-conscious about his munching until he looked up and saw Harth watching him from the corner of his eye – and then Link slowed his eating, not wanting to look like this was his first meal in over a day, even though it was (and they both knew it).</p><p><em>I’m going to go wash,</em> he signed when he was finished. He was aware of the fact that it had been a while since the last time he had, and he probably smelled, and he felt embarrassed about that. Which was strange, because normally he didn’t give a second thought to it.</p><p>Harth looked out to the sky and nodded.</p><p>“It’s a lovely day. I think I’ll accompany you,” He said.</p><p>So, together they walked to just outside the village where there was a pond, and there, Link modestly twiddled with the edge of his snowquill armour until Harth politely turned around. Appearances, appearances, why did he care? He never had before. But Harth brought out something shy in him.</p><p>He stripped and sunk into the water. It was slightly on the too cold side, and Link was glad he had left on his ruby bracelet and necklace. He washed quickly and when he had finished, he took his Champion’s tunic from the Sheikah Slate and pulled it on. Dressed, he went to sit with Harth, overlooking Lake Totori.</p><p>Silence prevailed for a few, agonising moments, before Link signed, <em>How did you find me? </em></p><p>Harth sighed loudly, and Link found himself both amused and guilty. “Teba told me that you went to see him at the Flight Range before heading deeper into Hebra. It had been a couple of days since he had seen you, though, and since you normally come back to the village after strolling through Hebra, he thought we should go looking for you.”</p><p><em>Not you?<br/>
<br/>
</em>A silence that was less of a silence and more of an elongated pause, a bated breath. The future of the words about to be spoken could be heard, faintly, if one listened hard enough.</p><p>“Alright. <em>I </em>thought we should go looking for you. Teba thought so too, but I was the one to suggest it,” Harth said in his quiet voice, as though the words had been pulled from him into the daylight, and some part of him exposed. Link smiled lazily at him.</p><p>And Harth looked at him, and looked, and looked. And eventually, after a long while, he looked away. Link immediately blushed, harder than he ever remembered blushing before; his face felt as warm as the rubies he was still wearing. He wondered at what Harth had said. Someone had missed him enough to go looking for him. That was… Not something he ever thought he’d have, when he first woke up on the Great Plateau months ago. Back then, he hadn’t known anyone, and no-one had known him, and he’d known the true meaning of loneliness.</p><p>There was silence once again but, contrary to before, it felt content, like there was nothing left to say.</p><p>-</p><p>Link left the village later that afternoon with a stroke to Molli’s head and a lingering look at Harth. He pretended that he didn’t notice Harth’s own look staying on him as he walked away, for acknowledging it meant thinking about what it meant, and he didn’t think he had the courage to do that.</p><p>He scoffed at himself. A hero that can fight the Calamity, perhaps, but not one that can face his own emotions.</p><p>He was back in Hateno, in his house, now, lying in bed. He’d considered going on another adventure, continuing to explore, but he figured that after the close call in Hebra, he should rest a little more before setting out again. Though he didn’t think he’d be in a hurry to go back to the mountains anytime soon.</p><p>The wind breezed through his open window and grazed his cheek, soft as a hand caressing him, and he thought back to the second time he had awoken in Harth’s hut. The way he had been sure that a hand had swept through his hair. It had to have been Harth, or it had been his imagination.</p><p>Perhaps he would prefer it to be his imagination. It would certainly save him from this cursed shyness he felt bubbling at the back of his throat, the stutter of his heart when he thought about even going near Rito Village, the way his hands wanted to twist in nervousness. Hope simmered somewhere within him, but he wasn’t sure what that hope was for.</p><p>Eventually, unable to stand it any longer, sure he would go insane alone in his house, Link stood. He was going to visit all the different settlements until he forgot all about these feelings that plagued him. He’d start with Goron City, see Yunobo, then go around until he was back in Rito Village last. Perhaps by then, he’d feel normal again.</p><p>-</p><p>Months later, Link found himself back in Rito Village with a clearer heart and a clearer head. It was simply his imagination, he was sure.</p><p>He was greeted by Mazli as always. Walking up the stairs strangely felt like coming home, as though his heart had settled there without his knowledge or his consent, and he wondered whether he had ever felt like this returning to his house in Hateno. He didn’t think so.</p><p>Molli was where she normally was, sitting by her lonesome on one of the village’s ledges, but she jumped up the moment she saw Link walking up the stairs.</p><p>“Link! Are you here to see Dad?” She asksed, and Link wanted to deny it, but when he really thought about it, he realised that yes, indeed, he was heading up to Harth’s hut. Perhaps his heart and head weren’t as clear as he imagined they were. So instead he nodded, and Molli squealed, and took his hand, and led him upwards once more.</p><p>“He’s been so-o-o quiet since you left, Link!” She said, her young voice full of excitement at the prospect of possibly seeing her father happy again now that Link was back. Link hid his nerves and shyness behind a kind smile that she tittered at when she looked up at him.</p><p>When they arrived at Harth’s hut, no amount of pulling on his hand could convince him to cross the threshold. He was stuck on the border, staring at Harth and Harth staring back.</p><p>“Did you break the Great Eagle Bow?” Harth said, breaking the silence. Link chucked breathily.</p><p><em>No</em>, he signed, <em>Just came to see… everyone. </em></p><p>“Oh?” An eyebrow raised.</p><p><em>Alright, </em>Link signed, his movements as small as possible, betraying his shyness. <em>Just you.</em></p><p>He thought that he saw Harth smile, but in the next moment his head was dipped, and Link could only see his hair, obscuring his face. He shuffled where he stood, while Molli bounced up and down, unaware of the tension in the room.</p><p>“Link came to see you, Dad! Maybe now you’ll cheer up!” She said, and then turned to Link. “He’ll be so happy now you’re here, you always make him happy!”<br/>
<br/>
“Molli!” Harth exclaimed, and was that embarrassment that Link could hear in his tone? “Why don’t you go and find Kheel and the others and practice your singing? Don’t you want to impress Link at this year’s concert?” Molli immediately jumped up and down twice.</p><p>“There’s a concert every year, yeah, and all the rito perform their favourite songs that they learnt that year! I’m gonna sing better than Kotts this year, I promised Kheel I would! You’ll come, won’t you?” She said, and once Link nodded his assent, raced out of the hut and towards the landing near the Akh Va’quot shrine where the other rito children were singing.</p><p>“I’m sorry. I hope she didn’t make you uncomfortable,” Harth said, and Link softened. He thought about what it might be like to have Harth hear his voice, and if his voice would work, even if he willed it. But all he could do was try.</p><p>“No,” He said, scratchily. Straight away, his nose scrunched up in distaste, and he regretted it immediately.</p><p>But Harth was looking at him like he had never seen him before, and once again Link felt that familiar shyness creep up through his chest and settle in his throat. He wanted to preen and to curl up somewhere far away simultaneously.</p><p>“I’m glad,” Harth said eventually, softer than he normally spoke. His eyes were softer, too. Link felt helpless to the pull of whatever it was that made him walk further into the hut, and then sit next to him.</p><p>“You know, Molli likes you quite a lot.” Harth said after some silence.</p><p>“I –“ But his voice was stuck again. He whined sadly in the back of his throat at his loss, a hand curling into a fist and smashing against his crossed leg, before it was covered by a larger, feather covered hand. Harth slipped his fingers between Link’s, unfurling his fist, rubbing a circle over his pulse point in an effort to relax him.</p><p>“Hush. It’s alright.” He said. He let go of Link’s hand. “Sign.”</p><p>It took Link a couple of tries to get the signs right in his frustration, but Harth’s patience and acceptance calmed him more than he could ever imagine. Eventually, he was able to form the words, <em>I like her too</em>.</p><p>At this, Link imagined he sees Harth smile again, though once more his head is ducked. A surge of boldness ran through him, then, and he thought that if he could face Calamity Ganon head on and not flinch, then he should be able to do this too. He placed his hand on Harth’s chin and tilted his head up and to face him, and startled at the softness he found awaiting him in Harth’s eyes.</p><p>“I’m glad, Link,” Harth said with a softness to match.</p><p>There was a frozen moment, then, one that lasted an eternity, as crystalline as Link’s frozen tears had been when he had collapsed in Hebra not so long ago. The look that Harth was giving him could thaw any part of him that was still iced. Link wasn’t quite sure what to do with it, and somewhat regretted the courage that made him turn Harth’s face to him. And then he berated himself, for once again he was cowering from feelings when he knew that he was better than that.</p><p>Unsure whether his voice would work again, but wanting to try it anyway, for the moment felt like it called for something profound, Link spoke for the second time. “I’m glad to have you.”</p><p>And he didn’t think it possible, but Harth’s face softened even more.</p><p>“And I, you.”</p><p>And Harth dipped his head, low, once again – but this time he leaned towards Link, and before Link could register it, Harth’s beak had nuzzled a path from his left cheek to his right. Link blushed, and the shyness that he had been feeling since arriving on Harth’s doorstep came back full force, but he didn’t let that stop him place the smallest of kisses to the side of Harth’s beak.</p><p>When Harth pulled back to look at him, Link thought he had done something wrong. But then he was being pulled back in, closer and closer still, until he was sitting back to chest with Harth and Harth’s beak was resting on his head and Harth’s arms were wrapped around his middle, and Harth’s very essence seemed to be soaking itself into every part of him, and Link sighed.</p><p>So, this was why people faced their feelings. Link wondered at it, and then sent thanks to his past self for getting himself lost in Hebra during a snow storm, for those very actions led him to be where he was today.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank you all for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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